The bugle call which signals a cavalry charge at every Wimbledon corner at Selhurst Park must have sounded remarkably like the Last Post for Watford boss Graham Taylor, as his struggling side were bludgeoned by a five-goal blast.

There were five different scorers as the rampaging Dons delivered their best-ever win in the Premiership to put daylight between themselves and the other strugglers.

In order, the goals came from shirt numbers 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11 - Carl Cort, Robbie Earle, John Hartson, Jason Euell and finally Marcus Gayle - with the best of the lot, a stunning 25-yard drive into the top corner.

The result was bad news for Watford who have now gone eleven games without a win and have not kept a clean sheet since they beat Chelsea at Vicarage Road on September 18.

It was Wimbledon's former Norway manager Egil Olsen - Taylor's nemesis during his England days - who masterminded the triumph.

He has done little to modify the Dons' traditional long-ball bombardment style, but why fix something when it isn't broken?

Wimbledon have only failed twice to score in 21 games under Olsen and you can see why. As ever, their main threat stemmed from masterful set-pieces, generated largely by left-back Alan Kimble's magical left foot, which is nicknamed 'The Wand' down South-west London way.

And after Cort and Earle capitalised on two of those immaculate deliveries in the first 32 minutes, the game just ran away from Watford.

In the first half, Wimbledon looked just as ragged at the back as Watford but the difference was that Cort and Earle buried their chances while Michel Ngonge spurned a hat-trick of opportunities for the visitors.

Kimble's near-post corner delivery brought turmoil to the Watford defence in only the 15th minute and although Micah Hyde bravely cleared Hartson's thundering header off the line, Cort was perfectly positioned to drive the ball back over the line for his ninth goal this season.

Earle had doubled Wimbledon's advantage in the 32nd minute, bundling the ball over the line after Cort headed on another expertly-placed Kimble corner.

And although the Hornets started the second half with a flourish, having, no doubt, been given the rough edge of Taylor's tongue during the interval, it soon became a shooting gallery for the Dons.

Hartson, back after two games out with a thigh injury, grabbed the third for Wimbledon just after the hour, calmly chesting down Kenny Cunningham's curled cross that looped over the back of the Watford defence, firing past Chamberlain.

Six minutes later Euell, showing far more persistence than any Watford defender in pursuit of a loose ball in the box, drilled a fourth and 12 minutes from time Gayle completed the nap hand with the best strike of all, a stunning 25-yard blast into the top corner.